This study involved an evaluation of the influence of phase inversion in poly(methyl methacrylate) elastomer/poly(ethylene terephthalate) binary blends (PMMAelast/PET) and the effect of the addition of poly(methyl methacrylate-glycidyl methacrylate-ethyl acrylate) (MGE) interfacial compatibilizer on the microrheological properties of this polymer blend. Thermal, dynamic mechanical thermal, rheological and morphological analyses were performed using sensitive techniques such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), parallel plates rheometry in the linear viscoelastic region, and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. In this study, it was found that variations in the percentage of the PET phase influenced the correlation between the rheological properties at low shear rates and the morphology of the PMMAelast/PET binary blend and of the PMMAelast/PET/MGE compatibilized blend.

Abstract In this work, the rheological, mechanical and morphological behavior of immiscible blend poly (methyl methacrylate) with elastomeric particles (PMMAelast) and post-consumer poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) with and without the use of the interfacial compatibilizer poly (methyl methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethyl acrylate) (MGE) was studied. The significant increase in torque presented in rheological analyses has shown a indication of chemical reactions between the epoxy group of MGE with end groups of PET chains and also with the elastomeric phase of PMMAelast. The increased concentration of PET yielded an increase in maximum strength and elasticity modulus and a decrease in elongation at break. The PMMAelast/PET binary blend (50/50 wt%) and PMMAelast/PET/MGE compatibilized blend (65/30/5 wt%) showed pronounced results in elongation at break compared to PMMAelast, whereas, in the first results were due to the evidence of a co-continuous morphological structure and in the second, due to the efficiency of the dual reactive interfacial compatibilization of PMMAelast/PET blends. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses showed that PMMAelast/PET/MGE blends exhibit complex phase morphology due to the presence of elastomeric particles in the PMMAelast copolymer and in the use of MGE terpolymer.